Harry Potter and the Journey to the End
by Gavin Chaos
Summary: Post HBP Harry returns to Privet Drive one last time before setting out on his quest to find and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes. He finds himself facing his most dangerous adventure yet, and it all comes down to the final confrontation.
1. The Days Go On

A/n: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling only. I'm not making any money by writing this, and hopefully no one is paying any money to read it.

_Post HBP - Harry returns to Privet Drive one last time_ _before setting out on his quest to find and destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. He finds himself facing his most dangerous adventure yet, and it all comes down to the final confrontation between the 'Boy-Who-Lived' and The Dark Lord. Well, If Harry survives that long._

_Chapters 1 and 2 are going to be redone and expanded into more chapters. After reading it over a few times, I see some things that I would like to describe in more detail, as well as some things that were just god-awful. _

**Harry Potter and The Journey to the End**

**By GavinChaos**

Harry Potter shifted slightly in his sleep, visions of his former Headmaster and mentor, Albus Dumbledore, flitting in and out of his dreams. As in every other dream, Dumbledore was holding a locket, just out of reach of Harry's outstretched fingers. The locket was large, with a black S encrusted on it. And just like every other dream, just as Harry felt his fingers brush against the cold metal of the locket, he woke up.

Sunlight streamed into the smallest bedroom in number 4 Privet Drive. This sunlight, it seemed, was directly aimed at Harry's eyes, taunting him with it's brilliance and accuracy in singling out his eyes from the two other pairs of eyes in the room.

Groaning, Harry sat up and felt around for his glasses. Putting them on, his meticulously clean room came in to focus and he was able to see clearly, the red headed form of Ron Weasley and the bushy hair of Hermione Granger still sleeping. Hermione was sleeping on the bed, as Ron and Harry slept in cots that Hermione had conjured. Both seemed quite undisturbed, which heightened Harry's suspicions that the Sunlight was playing a cruel joke on him.

Looking over at the clock on his bedside table, Harry saw that it was seven in the morning. As it was a Saturday, he doubted that the Dursleys would be awake for another hour. Yawning just loudly enough that Hermione woke up (Ron merely grunted and pushed his head under his pillow), Harry stood up and scratched the back of his head.

"Morning Harry." Hermione said sleepily, rubbing her eyes and blinking a few times to clear her vision.

"Morning Hermione. Sleep well?" He asked, grinning.

"In a room with two boys? Ha." She said, but she grinned as well.

"What was it you told your parents again?" Harry asked, feeding Pig and Hedwig some owl treats.

"Oh, you know, that I would be staying with you guys before Bill and Fleur's wedding."

"Didn't bother telling them that you wouldn't be at the Burrow?"

"They never asked." She said simply

They both laughed quietly, and looked over at Ron who was currently thrashing in his sheets. They were quite alarmed, thinking perhaps something was wrong with him until they heard his muted voice as he rolled off his cot and hit the floor with a dull thud.

"Anyone gonna help me get out of here?" He bellowed, though it was still hard to hear him as he was wrapped head to foot in his sheets.

Laughing openly, Hermione rushed over to him and helped untangle him. When he was finally free, he sucked in a great breath of air and looked around, his eyes wild and his hair going in every which direction.

Harry, grinning, said "Well maybe if you slept in your sheets instead of wrestling with them, you might not nearly die."

"Stuff it, Potter." Ron yawned, digging at his eyes with the back of his hands. "What time is it anyway?"

"A little after seven." Hermione said, bewitching the cots to clean themselves. She had been doing this for the two days since they had arrived. The room, which was usually very messy, was now the cleanest one in the house, much to the chagrin of Aunt Petunia.

"So how long are we going to stay here, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking up from her handiwork.

"A couple more days ought to do it, then we can head over to the Burrow to get ready for the wedding." Harry said, rummaging in his closest for towels and clean clothes.

"You taking the bathroom first, Hermione?" Ron asked, digging in his trunk for the same items.

"Well, if you don't mind." Hermione said, grinning. Ron always wanted the bathroom first since Hermione usually took ages.

"Of course not." Ron said, a slight frown on his face. "Harry and me can go and get some breakfast."

"You're not cooking again, are you?" Harry and Hermione asked in unison, looks of alarm on their face.

"What's wrong with that?" Ron asked indignantly.

"Well nothing...except that I thought I might need a bezoar after yesterday." Harry said jokingly, while not joking at all.

Ron grumbled something about not getting any respect before slouching out of the room, taking particular care to tread down the stair as loud as he could. He was rewarded with a shout from Uncle Vernon, who had been awakened like that once already and was in no mood to repeat the occasion.

Harry laughed and followed Ron down the stairs while Hermione went off toward the bathroom, also chuckling. Arriving in the kitchen, Harry spotted Ron rooting through the refrigerator for stuff to cook.

"Aunt Petunia should be down in a little bit. Perhaps we should just let her cook something. you know how she is with magic, and everything." Harry said innocently, hoping dearly that Ron wouldn't just blow him off and start cooking.

Ron looked up, his eyes narrowed, but then relented and sat down at the square table. Harry joined him, hoping he didn't look to relieved, after starting some coffee.

"So after the wedding, when do you want to set out for Godric's Hollow?" Ron asked, looking out the window.

"I don't want to stay too long. It'll be best to get a move on as soon as possible." Harry said, trying hard not to think about Ginny, as he would be reunited with her at the Burrow, but then leaving her again.

"Any idea what we're looking for once we get there?"

"Not really. I just feel that the Hollow would be the best place to start."

"Good point." Ron said, then looked at him seriously. "We'll have to go by the Ministry, though. We need to pass our Apparition test."

Harry groaned. "Bugger, I forgot about that. Yeah, I suppose your right. Shouldn't be too hard, I've pretty much have it down. I just don't want to be anywhere that Scrimgeour might corner me. He's still desperate to have me say I'm doing his bidding."

"Git." Was Ron's simple reply.

"Alright right then, you've woken us all up, _again,_ so I'll suppose I'll start breakfast." Aunt Petunia said loudly, bursting into the room.

The Dursleys has been very civil with Harry while he was here, even consenting to having his friends join him. Of course, they all had to stay in the same room, but it wasn't as bad as it could be.

Hermione came down just as Aunt Petunia served breakfast. They always ate first, and then left the house so that Harry's relatives could enjoy their own breakfast without worrying about being cursed. Aunt Petunia left the kitchen with just a small look of loathing, and the three of the dug in, discussing the upcoming wedding, and then their plans for their journey.

"Well, it's obvious we should track down whoever this R.A.B. is, isn't it?" Hermione said after taking a sip of Coffee.

"Yeah, we have to find out if he really destroyed the Horcrux or not, right?" Ron agreed, looking at Harry.

Harry nodded and took a bite of his eggs, thinking hard about the letter in the fake Horcrux.

"I think we should also pay a visit to Professor Slughorn." He said after a while.

He was rewarded with looks of shock, Ron actually started choking on his toast.

Patting Ron on the back, Hermione continued to stare at Harry. "What do we need to see him for?" She asked.

"I need him to brew some more Felix Felicis. We'll be on the move too much to brew it ourselves and I trust he'll get it right, anyway." Harry said.

"You think we'll need it?" Ron asked, his face slightly red from choking.

"Hopefully not, but I'd like to have it just in case."

"Well, it's your call mate. You think he'll do it?"

"Slughorn is still going to be teaching at Hogwarts since they decided to keep it open, right?"

"Yeah, so what?"

"Well he told me last term that he isn't getting paid as much as he likes. So I'll pay him for the job. I'll pay him as much as he likes."

"Watch out if you say that in front of him, mate, he'll clean you out. How much do you want him to brew?"

"Three pints. One for each of us."

"Well, there goes a good lot of your gold, Harry." Hermione said, looking uncomfortable.

"It'll be worth it."

Three days passed without much activity, and the night before they were to set off toward the Burrow, Hermione owl ordered some Oak Matured Mead from Tom at the Leaky Cauldron who imported from Madam Rosemerta. They all drank a good amount of mead, and for a while, they forgot about Dumbledore's death, and their quest.

"Is everything ready?" Harry asked, after Hermione banished all their belongings to the Burrow, just as Dumbledore had done last year.

"Everything's fine, Harry." Hermione said, closing her eyes and adopting a look of concentration on her face.

Harry had said goodbye to the Dursleys (who looked happier that Harry had seen them in sixteen years) and Ron, Hermione and himself we standing together in the garden in the back yard.

"Alright, I think I'm ready." Hermione said, holding out her hands. Since Ron and Harry hadn't passed their Apparition tests, Hermione would be doing a double side-long apparition.

Taking Hermione's left hand. while Ron took her right, Harry hoped his confidence in Hermione's ability would prove correct.

"Nervous?" Ron asked. "We could wait, I suppose, maybe call the Knight Bus."

"I'm fine, just shut up." Hermione snapped.

Ron looked slightly cowed, but Harry grinned.

"Here we go." Hermione whispered, and suddenly the now all too familiar feeling of compression from every side came to Harry.

It was over quickly, and Harry, Ron and Hermione found themselves outside the front door of the Burrow. Ron, breaking away from the other, bounded up the steps and threw open the door.

"_Pertrifius Totalis!" _Two people shouted in unison, and Ron fell to the ground, as rigid as a board.

"Damn, Ron. You need to at least announce yourself before barging in like that." Fred said, muttering the counter jinx while Harry, Hermione and George roared with laughter.

"Yeah, teach me to ever come home again." Ron said, pulling himself to his feet.

"Good reflexes, guys." Harry said, grinning as everyone went inside.

"Learned from the best, Harry." George said.

"Oh are they here already?" Mrs. Weasley said, coming in from the kitchen wearing an apron with a touch of cooking powder on her nose.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley." Harry and Hermione said, giving he a hug.

"The three of you look starved. Into the kitchen now, I just finished cooking dinner and since you've had quite a distance to come you'll be eating first." Mrs. Weasley said sternly.

"Yes Ma'am." All the of them said, knowing it would be better to shove their wands into a dragon's nose than argue with the Weasley Family Matriarch.

When everyone had settled down for dinner (Bill and Fleur were off in town having dinner at a quaint little restaurant and Charlie was off at work and would be arriving in the morning) Mr. Weasley started asking Ron what it was like to actually be in a muggle house for days at a time. He seemed quite proud of his son for achieving something that he himself hadn't done.

"It was great Dad, just like being here except Harry's Aunt isn't that much better at cooking than me."

Harry looked over at Ginny, who was sitting next to him, and both of them broke in to silent laughs. Under the table, she took his hand in hers. He smiled at her and held her hand throughout the rest of dinner.

"Well, we should all head up to bed a bit early tonight. Such a big day tomorrow. Oh I hope those two get back here at a decent hour, I don't want them looking half dead in their wedding outfits." Mrs. Weasley said, putting the dirty dishes in the sink and waving her wand, which caused them to clean themselves.

"Up to bed, now everyone."

Harry and Ron arrived up at the attic, followed by Fred and George since both Charlie and Fred would be sharing a room. Hermione, Ginny and Fleur would be in Ginny's room.

"G'night everyone." Harry said, settling into his sleeping bag that had been set out.

They all murmured their good nights, and soon Harry drifted off to sleep.

Studying for O.W.L.s, Practicing for upcoming Quidditch matches, scurrying around making sure he had everything before leaving for school, nothing compared to the hectic-ness that bordered on hysteria of the morning of the wedding. It seemed everyone was running around trying to get something done. There were more than seven collisions on the stairs and many shouts about this and that.

Harry, who didn't really have anything to do was trying to help out where ever he could, but was finding the madness of it all quite confusing. The garden had been de-gnomed, the cake had been prepared(Mrs. Weasley nearly killed Ron when he tried to taste it) and the garden had been expanded to fit the hundred or so people arriving. The wedding wasn't for four hours, but already it seemed that these things were far too much trouble than what they were worth.

His thoughts of this were ended very suddenly when Bill, who was hopping on one foot, desperately searching for his other dress shoe collided with him and they both fell to the ground.

"Sorry about that, Harry." Bill grunted, pulling him up.

"Nothing to worry about." Harry said grinning and straightening his glasses. "You look good. Like the earring."

"Oh yeah, Fred and George gave 'em to me." He said grinning and flicking the ball and chain earring. "You haven't seen my shoe, have you?"

"I think Crookshanks might have gotten hold of it, actually." Said Harry.

"That blasted cat!" Bill yelled before running off.

After all the fuss, the wedding passed very quickly. A slightly bored looking man led the couple as they exchanged vows, and everyone clapped as they shared their first kiss as husband and wife (The twins whistled and make gestures), and many people flooed of apparated to the Leaky Cauldron for the reception.

It was around his third mug of mead when Harry spotted Horace Slughorn talking to someone Harry didn't know. Walking over to him and plastering a great smile on his face, Harry said loudly.

"Hello Professor Slughorn!"

Slughorn spun around, his eyes lit up with delight.

"Harry m'boy! It's been too long, too long indeed!" He said, shaking Harry's hand vigorously.

"I know, Professor." Harry lied, still smiling as if he wanted nothing more than to spend all of his days with the Potions teacher.

"What have you been up to, Harry? Staying out of trouble I hope." Slughorn said, winking.

"Oh, you know me, Professor. How have you been, staying at Hogwarts over the summer?"

"Oh well...no..I've been staying at...well..." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Headquarters."

"Ah, I understand." Harry said, thinking fast. "Well that's good, because I needed to drop by there in a few days anyway."

"You do?" Slughorn asked, looking puzzled

"Oh yes, the house is mine, after all. Maybe we can have lunch while I'm there. There is something I need to ask you for."

"Anything at all m'boy! What can I do for you?"

Harry dropped the look he had been wearing and adopted a look of complete seriousness. "I need three pints of Felix Felicis."

Slughorn looked highly uncomfortable for a few moments, but then Harry held out his money bag and shoves a good amount of Galleons into the Professor's hand. "There will be a lot more when the job is done, sir."

"Of course, Harry." Slughorn said, looking around slightly and depositing the Galleons in his pocket. "It shouldn't take me but a few weeks.

Harry looked confused for a moment. "But you said that it takes six months."

"Oh yes, but I still have a bit of finished Felix at headquarters, you just use that as a base for mixing the potion and it cuts the time right down."

"I see, well thank you, sir. I'll see you in a few days to discuss the..._details."_

Professor Slughorn went off to join his friend and Harry looked around for the others. Ron and Hermione were enjoying a quiet drink by themselves and Ginny was chatting to Gabrielle. Walking over to her, she smiled and said goodbye to Harry, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him out of the door. Once outside, she threw herself into his arms and started kissing him fiercely.

Harry's first dim thought was to struggle, but he gave in to her kisses and wrapped his arms around her.

All too soon, though, the day arrived when Harry needed to go to Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Packing up his things, with Ron and Hermione. They bade goodbye to the rest of the Weasley family.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had openly protested Ron not going to school and going off with Harry on a mission they knew nothing about, but after Ron stated, quite clearly, that he was going no matter what, they relented, though very unwillingly. Harry had no idea what Hermione had told her parents, but whatever it was, it worked.

After another apparition, they arrive right in front of the doorstep to headquarters. Since Dumbledore was the previous secret keeper of the house, McGonagall became the secret keeper once he had died. Ron and Hermione had received letters telling them how to find it a couple of days previously. Harry, who now owned Number 12 Grimmauld Place, didn't need one.

Knocking on the door quietly, they only waited a few moments before Professor McGonagall opened the door and let them in.

"It's good to see you, Harry." She said, looking at him with a concerned expression on her face.

"It's good to see you too, Professor." Harry said, smiling slightly.

"I would like to have a word with you in private, please." She said looking at Ron and Hermione.

"Of course, Ma'am." Harry said, and looked at his two friends as well. "Talk to you later, guys."

McGonagall and Harry made their way into the living room of the Black Manor. Sitting down on a couple of uncomfortable armchairs, McGonagall pointed her wand at the fireplace where roaring flames came to life.

"Well, I know I've heard your answer before, but I must ask again, Harry. You do not plan to return to Hogwarts, along with Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger?" She asked, the fire reflected in her eyes.

"That's correct, Professor. And you know I can't tell you what it is that we'll be doing.' Harry said firmly

"Very well. I will not bother you for further information. There is something else, though." She said, sounding grave.

Harry stared at her for a moment when she started fiddling with something in the pocket of her robes. "What is it Professor?"

McGonagall smiled slightly and held up a golden chain attached to a red, round pendant. "This is called 'Athena's Eye', Harry. I've carried it with me for a long time. I'm still not sure of it's enchantments, but I know that it will reflect minor curses. I want you to wear this while on your journey."

Harry stared wide-eyed at the Professor for a moment, speechless. "I couldn't Professor...I.."

"I insist, Mr. Potter." McGonagall said, sounding stern.

Harry smiled weakly before accepting the gift, clasping it around his neck. "Thank you, Professor."

"I will miss seeing you around Hogwarts, Harry. And I expect you to give me that back when you are finished with your quest."

Sleep came easy that night for Harry, and for once in a long time, he didn't have any dreams.

Stepping in to the kitchen the next morning, Harry was glad to see that the only occupant was Professor Slughorn.

"Good morning, Sir." Harry said, sitting down opposite him.

"Morning, Harry. How are you today?"

"Quite well, sir. Have you started what I needed done?"

"Of course, m'boy. It'll be ready in no time." Slughorn said, smiling.

"Good, my birthday is in two day and I'll be spending a bit of time at the Ministry for Apparition testing with Ron."

"Well I wish you the best of luck with that, Harry."

They both chuckled lightly at the comment before some Order members came in to the room. Before long, the Kitchen was full of chatter with people having breakfast, so Harry and Professor Slughorn couldn't talk much more.

"Harry Birthday!" Was the first thing Harry head, before he was, not for the first time, hit in the head in order to wake up.

"Ron, how many times do I have to tell you not to hit a person when they're waking up?" Hermione said, sounding both severe and amused at the same time.

"S'alright, Hermione. I'll get him back in due time." Harry said groggily. He put on his glasses and looked at the large pile of presents by the bed. "Guess I better get started on that, huh?"

Fred and George had given Harry a lot of items that weren't even on their shelves yet with a note that all of them had been tested and even sent some pictures of the testing to assure him. One of which was a great ball shaped invention that caused the illusion that there were more than one of the user. Mrs. Weasley had also sent a large amount of sweets and Professor Slughorn had given him a book on potion making.

After eating a heart breakfast and thanking everyone for their Happy Birthday wishes, Harry and Ron, along with Hermione, flooed to the Ministry. When they arrived, Hermione went off to see about the tests, while Harry walked over to the Fountain of Magical Brethren which had been reconstructed.

Hermione came back after a moment and they set off to the Apparition testing. They expected a line of some sort, but the place had very few people and they didn't have to wait long at all.

"Hello there, I'm Mrs. Hearting, I'll be your examiner today. If you will follow me, we'll go to the testing area." A small, willowy looking woman said after walking up to them.

They followed her through a set of double doors and Harry nearly gaped as he emerged at a perfect replica of Diagon Alley. The only difference was that this place was completly empty.

"Now if you could apparate from this spot over to where Flourish and Blotts is, please." The examiner said politely.

Harry looked over to Flourish and Blotts and closed his eyes. Focusing on getting there without moving his feet, he felt the familiar compression and opened his eyes right outside the front doors of the book store. With a faint pop, Ron joined him with, thankfully, both eyebrows still on his face.

"Looks like we passed, eh mate?" Ron said, grinning.

Harry grinned too. "Looks like."

When they received their Apparition licenses, they all Apparated back to Grimmauld Place and ate a large lunch. Harry was strangely pleased with himself for passing on the first try. He hadn't realized that he it meant much to him. He wondered vaguely if his dad had passed on the first try. But then, he probably did. He was very intelligent, him and Remus and Sirius.

"I'll be right back, guys." Harry said, trying to sound as cheerful as he felt a few moments before.

Leaving the two of them, he made his was into the drawing room and walked over to the tapestry on the wall showing the Black Family Tree. Running his fingers over the spot where Sirius' name ought to have been but was now a small burnt hole, he looked over at the name beside it.

_Regulus Black_. Harry stared at the name for a few moments before rushing toward one of the cabinets in the room. Throwing it open, he started pulling everything he could get his hands on out, searching for a heavy locket that they had found two years ago. Harry spotted it and lifted it up.

'This is it." Harry said faintly, running his finger along the black S that was encrusted into the locket. "It was Regulus that took the Horcrux. That was why Voldemort killed him."

Harry dashed out of the room and burst into the Kitchen, startling Ron and Hermione.

"Harry what is it?" Hermione asked, looking alarmed.

"The Horcrux. The one Dumbledore ended up dying trying to get." Harry said, holding the locket up.

"Oh my god. Is that it?" Hermione said rushing over to him. She took the locket in her hands and examined it in fascination.

"How'd you find it?" Ron asked, joining Hermione.

"I didn't find it. Regulus Black did." Harry said.

"Sirius' brother?"

"The very same."

"This is amazing, Harry!" Hermione said, looking astounded. "But how can we tell if it is no longer a Horcrux."

"I don't know, but there's someone in the house who does." Harry said. "Slughorn knew a lot about Horcruxes, let's see if he knows how to get rid of them."

_**Well that's it for now. In the next chapter we find out how to banish a Horcrux and then the trio sets out of Godric's Hollow. **_

_**Important**_

_**Also on another note, the Harry/Ginny interaction comes from an experience, breaking up because something had to be done, or fear for the person you're going out with. It happens all the time that when you're around the person you sort of forget that you're broken up.**_

_**Trust me, Hermione will chew Harry out for it next chapter, I've had that planned. Also, you will hardly ever see Ginny in this fiction again, so rest assured Anti - H/G shippers, there won't be any more of that. **_

_**Be kind, and make sure to REVIEW!**_

_**GC**_


	2. To Hollow and Back

A/n: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling only. I'm not making any money by writing this, and hopefully no one is paying any money to read it.

_Also, Chapters 1 and 2 are going to be redone and expanded into more chapters. After reading it over a few times, I see some things that I would like to describe in more detail, as well as some things that were just god-awful. _

_**Okay, so if you didn't read it in the previous chapter, The Harry/Ginny stuff is over, done with, no more. That was just me sort of re-living a past experience. Sorry 'bout that. Ginny will only be making brief appearances in the fiction from now on. We all happy now? Okay then. **_

**Harry Potter and the Journey to the End**

**To Hollow and Back**

"Well, so far, no good. You sure Slughorn wasn't just brushing us off?" Ron asked, yawning loudly and flipping through his third book.

"Well he said he didn't know off hand, but there was an answer somewhere in these books. Don't give up on me now, Ron, we've got a long way to go." Harry said, suppressing, with a large amount of effort, a yawn himself.

"Yeah well, this isn't getting us very far. We should just chuck the books and hold old Sluggy at wand-point."

"Ron!" Hermione said, looking scandalized. "He's trying to help us and you want to attack him?"

"Never said attack him, just said hold him at wand-point. Maybe he'll talk." Ron grinned.

"Still jealous about the party invitations, Ron?" Harry asked, the edges of his mouth twitching.

"Course not!" Ron said, a little color rising to his cheeks. "Just cause Slughorn doesn't seem to think I'm 'Slug Club' material doesn't mean I want to jinx him."

"Right, right." Harry said dismissively. "Go back to sleeping at your book. Snore real loud if you find anything."

Ron looked mutinous, but Harry just grinned at him and went back to his book, looking for anything that might help him banish a Horcrux. Soon, the only sounds in the drawing room were the turning of pages, joined shortly by Ron's heavy breathing.

"Harry." Hermione said, after making sure Ron was asleep.

Harry looked up with a sudden rush of excitement. "What is it?"

"I haven't had a chance to talk to you about it before now, but I saw you and Ginny at the wedding reception. I don't think it was right for you two to be kissing. You broke up, remember?"

Harry looked down guiltily.

"It's just...hard, you know? Any time I'm around her I just want to-" He broke off, looking away.

"I know it's hard, Harry, but you have to be more in control. We have to worry about the Horcruxes, right now. Killing Voldemort is more important than snogging." Hermione said, soundly a little stern and soothing at the same time.

"Your right. Besides, it's not like we're going to be seeing her any time soon, are we?" Harry said, forcing himself to make a small grin. "Won't need to worry, huh?"

Hermione smiled slightly before returning to her book, and Harry looked over at the large locket sitting on the table between the three of them. They had read enough to find out that the Horcrux hadn't been destroyed, but merely taken off of Regulus Black's body and sent to his mother and father.

He had turned his first page before Hermione heaved a great gasp and jumped up.

"I've found it!" She squealed, waking Ron up. "It's right here, look!"

The Harry and Ron leaned over her shoulder and looked as she read aloud.

'_The Horcrux, which conceals the part of the soul a Wizard is evil enough to severe from himself, is made and un made in the same fashion. Upon making the Horcrux the Wizard puts a part of his living self into it, and so to un make it, it must be killed."_

"So we have to _Avada Kedavra _it?" Harry asked, wondering if he got that right.

"Looks like." Ron said, looking down at the locket. "You wanna try it, Harry?"

"Guess I'd better."

Harry drew his wand from his pocket and looked down at the 'S' that represented the name Slytherin. He took a few deep breaths and thought back to his night at the Ministry over a year ago.

"_Never used an Unforgivable Cure before, have you boy?"_

He remembered Bellatrix Lestrange yelling at him that he had to want to cause pain and death to cast those curses. He pointed his wand at the locket, wondering if he had it in him to cast the worst of the Unforgivables.

But then he though back to Dumbledore, falling from the highest tower of Hogwarts, his body illuminated from the glow of the Dark Mark above him. He thought back to Sirius, who's face was still smiling slightly as he fell through the veil. He imagined James and Lily, dying to protect their son as the worst Unforgivable Cure was cast upon them. The same curse that had given him his scar.

With a deep feeling of fury and hatred, Harry gripped his wand and roared "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The dimly lit room was filled with a blinding green light, and Harry's wand grew hot in his hand. Bracing himself, he poured more of his hatred into the spell until, at last the light faded and the Harry dropped his wand to the floor.

The room was silent for a moment, before the locket started shaking violently, clanking against the table. Harry watched, wide-eyed and breathless as the locket began floating and spinning in mid-air. The polished silver started turning black and once again, the green light of the killing curse lit up the room as an unearthly howl of agony pierced the room.

And then as suddenly as it began, the noise stopped and the locket, now black and smoking slightly, fell onto the table. The silence that followed was short lived, however, as outside the drawing room the remaining portrait of Mrs. Black started screeching.

"Go and take care of her, guys." Harry mumbled, slumping back in his chair, his eyes glazing over.

Without saying anything, the two of them obeyed and Harry was left alone, looking numbly at the former Horcrux. After a moment, he reached out and picked it up. The metal felt warm to the touch, but it wasn't nearly as heavy as it was before.

"_You have to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long..."_

Harry dropped the locket to the floor and looked at his own hands. '_When it comes down to it, will I have the strength to enjoy killing him? Could I really take his life with the same words he nearly took mine with?' _

He distantly heard the door open and noticed somewhere in the back of his head that Ron and Hermione had joined him, but no cognitive thoughts would form. Before long, darkness gripped him.

**-O-**

"Mmm" Harry groaned, opening his eyes and trying to sit up.

"Easy there, Harry, don't try and get up just yet."

"What happened?" Harry asked, not recognizing the voice.

"Well from what Ron and Hermione tell me, you passed out shortly after casting a spell of some sort." The still unfamiliar voice said.

Grabbing his glasses and putting them on tentatively, noticing that his very skin seemed to hurt, the room came in to focus and he was looking in Kingsley Shacklebolt's eyes.

"Oh, hello Kingsley." Harry muttered, sitting up slowly and leaning back against the headboard.

"I was just walking in when you blacked out. You gonna be alright?"

"I'll be fine, I think." Harry said, smiling weakly.

"All right then, McGonagall's downstairs. I'm giving her a report and then I'll be gone. Make sure to take care of yourself, Harry." Shacklebolt said, patting him lightly on the shoulder and then leaving the room.

After a few tries, Harry managed to stand up and walked out into the hall. Taking the steps one at a time, at a very slow pace, Harry got to the bottom of the steps and went into the kitchen. Ron, Hermione and Professor McGonagall were all inside. Jumping up, Ron rushed over to him and helped him in to a seat. McGonagall conjured up some food and Hermione looked for something to drink.

"I know what you're doing is your own business, Potter, but please be more careful with whatever you're doing." McGonagall said, passing some of the sandwiches to him. Harry didn't respond at first, but merely took a massive bite out of the sandwich, suddenly realizing that he was ravenous. After a few moments, he looked at McGonagall and nodded weakly, trying to smile with his mouth full.

McGonagall smiled faintly before looking at Ron and Hermione. "I trust he'll be in good hands?"

The two of them gave their affirmatives and she left, leaving them alone.

"Well, that was a close one, eh, mate?" Ron said after the door closed behind McGonagall.

Swallowing and taking a swig of the mead Hermione had gotten him Harry grinned despite himself. "Yeah, that was pretty close. No one knows what we were doing they, do they?"

"No, McGonagall asked very few questions. No one's seen Slughorn out of his room in a couple of days but we can hear him in there. Kingsley didn't really ask anything either." Hermione said, taking a sip of mead as well.

"Good, because we're going to be leaving for Godric's Hollow in two days."

Ron's eyebrows furrowed as if he wasn't sure that was a good idea. "You sure you don't want to rest up a bit at least? Maybe wait a couple weeks, and then we'll be around once Slughorn finishes the Felix."

"I already told him to deliver it to the Hollow, anyway. He's going to bury the potion behind my parent's grave." Harry said, taking another bite of his sandwich. "I don't think we'll be there long, and I want to get a move on with tracking down the rest of those Horcruxes."

They nodded and looked briefly at each other, and an understanding silence fell over them. After a moment, Hermione spoke.

"Well, we should probably go for the Hufflepuff Horcrux next, shouldn't we? That's the one we know for certain, besides the snake, and we won't be able to get that one until we get the others because it's always around Voldemort."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that's the plan. Dumbledore reckoned that the Gryffindor Sword was the only surviving artifact left of that founder, but that's still safe in the Head's office at Hogwarts. I have no idea what Ravenclaw might have, but hopefully if we find Hufflepuff's, we'll get some clue as to Ravenclaw's."

"Sounds like a good plan." Ron said confidently, draining the last of the ale from him mug. "But maybe you should let us cast the Killing Curses on some of them. It seems to take a lot out of the person and we need you fit to take him down once it comes to it."

"We'll burn that bridge when we come to it." Harry said, smiling slightly.

**-O-**

Harry knocked lightly at on the bedroom door, waiting for a moment before calling "Professor Slughorn? Are you in there?"

There was a sound of shuffling inside the door before it swung open. Harry stepped back as Slughorn's enormous stomach took up the space where he was just standing.

"Ah, Harry m'boy, what can I do for you today?" Slughorn said, yawning very loudly.

"Sorry to wake you sir, but my friends and I are about to leave for Godric's Hollow. Do I have you assurances that the potion will be there when then time comes?" Harry asked, trying hard to sound respectful.

"Yes, yes, it'll be there, Harry." Slughorn said, smiling widely.

"Good. I also have confidence that you will tell no one where we have gone or about the potion?" Harry asked pointedly, holding out a small satchel of gold.

Slughorn took the gold and smiled more widely. "Of course."

"Then farewell sir, we'll see each other sometime in the future, I hope."

Slughorn went back in to his room and Harry joined the others at the door.

"We have everything we'll need? Wizard money, muggle money, everything?"

"All here, Harry." Hermione said, flinging a light bag over her shoulder.

"Alright, then." Harry said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out one of the things given to him by Dumbledore after he died. They walked out onto the sidewalk and Harry clicked the Put-Outer several times, causing the lights(most of them already broken) to go out.

Harry grinned at the shadowed forms of his friends. "Well, see you at the Hollow."

He closed his eyes and focused with all his might on the name Godric's Hollow, and then took the step into the compression. The feeling wasn't nearly so bad anymore, and Harry considered that it was just something to get used to. He opened his eyes and there were Ron and Hermione still next to him, standing in front of the wooden street sign bearing the Legend 'Godric's Hollow'.

"Well, looks like we made it alright." Ron said, looking around at the quiet village.

"Yeah, looks like." Harry agreed, looking around as well.

"There's an inn over there." Hermione said, pointing to a tall building down the cobbled street. "We should probably room there for tonight."

"Yeah, we'll hit the graveyard tonight." Harry said, prodding along with the other two.

The inn wasn't very crowded, and most of the patrons seemed friendly enough. When the matron asked what three teenagers were doing around here, Hermione simply said that they were backpacking across the continent. The matron accepted the story and led them to a couple of rooms.

"Oh we don't get many young people around this time of year, so you can stay here for a few days for free." She said warmly, handing them keys to the rooms.

"Well, it looks like you get your own room them, Hermione. Unless of course you want to stay with her, Ron." Harry said, grinning in a very suggestive way.

The effect was instantaneous. Both Ron and Hermione flushed a deep shade of scarlet and both started mumbling incoherently. Laughing openly, Harry went in to his room, closing the door but not locking it. After a few moments, Ron came in to the room, still red in the face, but grinning in a guilty sort of way.

"If you want to stay in her room, go for it mate. We're all adults here." Harry said, smiling very widely.

"Nah, I don't think we're that far in the relationship yet." Ron said, grinning sheepishly.

Harry shrugged and flopped down on his bed, kicking his shoes off. "Suit yourself, mate."

**-O-**

The next day they greeted the matron and had breakfast, hatching out a plan to act like sightseers and making their way over to the cemetery. There, they would visit the Potter's graves and look around see if they could find anything to do with Godric Gryffindor that might lead them to an artifact that hadn't been uncovered yet. Whether they found out where it was or not, they would seek out Hufflepuff's and then return to take care of Gryffindor's.

Making their way down the main street, they looked in to various quaint little shops that were full of muggle things. They spent more than an hour in a clothes store as Hermione crooned over various dresses and outfits.

"Oh these are adorable!" She squealed for what had to be the hundredth time.

Smiling in a very forced way, Ron moved in to intercept and whispered. "Hermione, you do remember why we're in Godric's Hollow, right? We can come back after we get the Horcruxes, okay?"

Dragging Hermione out of the shop twenty minutes later(after many protests), they finally managed to get to the cemetery.

"You guys go and look around, alright? I think I should visit my parents alone first." Harry said. The other raised no objections and went off on their own.

Making his way through the headstones, Harry felt his throat start to tighten slightly. After a little searching, he finally came upon a large headstone with the legend bearing his parent's names. Kneeling in front of the headstone, Harry traced the carved letters of his father's name with his finger.

"Hey Dad. Hey Mom." He said quietly, not bothering to stop the tears brimming in his eyes. "I want you to know that your sacrifice will never be in vain. Voldemort more than killed himself the night he took your lives."

He talked for a long time, reliving the moments when he had seen the shades, the echoes, of his parents erupt from Voldemort's wand. He talked himself in to silence and stared at the names for a few moments longer. Then, he kissed his hand and pressed it against his mother's name, and stood up.

He looked around and spotted Ron and Hermione not far off. Walking over to join them, wiping away the remaining tears with the back of his hand, he felt like a large weight had been lifted that he hadn't even been aware of having carried. Hermione hugged him tightly when stopped in front of them, and Ron patted him softly on the shoulder.

After a few moments of silence, Harry said "We should probably look around some more. Godric founded the place so maybe there's a tomb or something around here for him."

"We already found it." Hermione said, smiling slightly. "It's over there, the giant one."

It was indeed a giant mausoleum, and when they arrived at it the first thing Harry noticed was the name **_Godric Gryffindor_** etched into the sealed entrance. On either side of the tomb, large statues of lions stood sentry. An ancient looking script was also carved into the pillars that framed the entry. There were also hieroglyphics on the outside walls.

"Look over here, there's a picture of the sword." Harry said after they split up to examine the picture writing. "It's right next to what looks like--I think it's a shield. I can't really tell."

"That's what it looks like to me." Ron said, looking over Harry's shoulder. "It'd make sense, wouldn't it? Sword and Shield?"

"Yes, I supposed it would. So you think Voldemort found Godric's Shield?" Hermione said, looking from Ron to Harry.

"It would seem so. Actually, now that I think about it, he conjured a shield when he was fighting Dumbledore at the Ministry." Harry said, but then dismissed the thought. "But I doubt it was the same one. He wouldn't be stupid enough to use a Horcrux when fighting Dumbledore."

"Well, now we know what we're looking for at least." Hermione said, standing up straight and looking around the graveyard. "That gets us a bit further."

"Yeah. Now we just have to find out where Voldemort hid that Cup of Hufflepuff." Ron said.

Harry smiled at his best friends and looked off in the direction of the rising sun. "We'll worry about that in a bit. I think we've done enough discovering for today, and it's about time for lunch anyway."

With that, the three of them walked off toward the inn, an all too comfortable silence falling over them.

_**The next chapter might take a little while to get out since I have to register for classes and everything. College life (Groan!). Anyway, the trio finds out about an ancient library in an even more ancient town by the name of Raven's Bluff. Maybe the books in this library hold secrets that will help them in their quest, if they can convince the very xenophobic(fear of outsiders in this case, not race) townspeople to let them in! **_

_**I hope you enjoyed and don't forget to drop me a review!**_

_**GC**_


	3. Of Dogs and Men

A/n: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J. K. Rowling only. I'm not making any money by writing this, and hopefully no one is paying any money to read it.

**Wow, this chapter has certainly been long overdue. All I can say is that I am terribly sorry for the long wait, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Snicker **

**Harry Potter and the Journey to the End**

**Of Dogs and Men**

Harry awoke groggily to the sound of thunder and a heavy rain lashing against the window. He checked his watch and saw that it was seven in the morning, but no light could be seen outside because of the angry gray clouds that covered the sky.

Rolling over, Harry grinned as he saw Ron. The red head was asleep, snoring softly and making gestures with his hands. He was obviously having a very real dream. To go along with the show, Ron stopped snoring for a moment to mumble something that sounded suspiciously like "You know how I like it when you walk."

Harry chuckled to himself and climbed quietly out of bed. He walked over to Hedwig, who was still asleep in her cage and reached in to stroke her wing which she had her head tucked under. She made a soft chirrup but otherwise didn't respond. Smiling, Harry went to his trunk and dug around for some clothes. Putting them on, he made his was over to the door and, taking one last look at Ron(who seemed to be kissing the air), went out into the hall.

He gently knocked on Hermione's door to see if she was awake, and a couple moments later, she opened it. She had clearly been awake for a while because she was fully dressed. with her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. Harry noticed that she must have straightened it as well, because it didn't look at all like the bushy hair he was used to seeing on her. In fact, it looked almost like it did in their fourth year at the Yule Ball.

"Good morning, Harry" She said cheerfully and opened the door wider to let him in. He said his good morning and stepped in, taking a seat in one of the chairs. Hermione promptly went over to her bedside table and picked up a heavy book before carrying it back over to Harry. He took the book from her and looked down at it.

"It's all about Godric Gryffindor. I couldn't sleep last night so I took a trip over to the library that they have in the village. It's open all night, so I made use of it and found some really interesting things about the Founder and the Village itself." Hermione said brightly.

Harry looked up at her with a small look of concern. "You shouldn't have gone off on your own like that Hermione." He said quietly. "We don't know if we're being tracked or not."

Hermione blushed slightly at his tone, but replied in a slightly indignant way. "I do know how to take care of myself, just as much as you do, Harry. Besides, I'm all right and whole with nothing but a slight headache from all the dust that was over that book." Her tone became more severe now. "Honestly, some people just don't know how to take care of old books. And you should have seen the librarian, she didn't even ask which book I had and let me go with! I have it in my mind to just take it with us."

Harry stayed quiet throughout her rant and waited for a moment to see if she was finished. After making sure she wasn't going to say anything else, he spoke.

"Let's go down and get something to eat. You can tell me what you found in the book over breakfast." He said with a small smile.

"Alright then." Hermione said, taking the book back to the table and setting it down. They were at the door when she asked if they should rouse Ron.

"We should let him sleep a bit longer." Harry said, and then muttered "He probably hasn't gotten to the good parts, yet."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

The matron set down two plates of eggs, bacon and pancakes as well as some toast for the two young wizards. Harry reached around from some money to pay her with but there Matron merely slapped his hand.

"There'll be none of that now. You two enjoy your breakfast and make sure to tell me when I should have the cleaning girl sent up to your rooms."

The two friends grinned at each other and said their thanks to the kind Matron before she went of to tend to other guests.

"It seems like we have a Mrs. Weasley on our hands." Harry said in an offhand tone, and Hermione snorted into her drink.

"So what did you find out from that book, Hermione?" Harry asked after trying a bit of each of the items on his plate and finding them all to his liking.

Hermione set down her drink and took a bite of her eggs before saying anything.

"Well, I found out that the Village was founded before Hogwarts, by Godric's father, Octavian Gryffindor. Unlike his son, though, Octavian was far more of a scholar and prized knowledge more than anything else. It's strange how his own son could turn out so differently."

"His mother, maybe?" Harry suggested, though he knew that was probably incorrect. Hermione gave him a look that said she didn't think so either, but didn't say anything.

"The book was written by a muggle, but there is something in it that should be of help to us." Hermione said quietly.

Harry leaned forward slightly and nodded for her to continue. "While Godric had a sword and shield, apparently the shield was destroyed a long time ago, way before Tom Riddle was even born. So it couldn't be a Horcrux, could it?"

Harry sighed and went back to eating his food, his silence telling his disappointment for having that theory shot down.

"Was there anything else that could have been useful?" He asked after a moment.

Hermione smiled a little and a small bit a of blush crept into her cheeks. "Well, yes, actually. It turns out that Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw were lovers."

"Well well." Harry said, and then discovered that was all that he could really think to say on that particular subject.

"And," Hermione continued with some amusement at Harry's reaction. "He helped her build a village of her own not too far from here."

Harry said. "Alright then, I suppose we'll stay here a few more days and make use of that library you've found, and then head out to that village. We'll travel by foot as well, since I don't want any mistakes if they can be avoided. If we splynch ourselves we'll have to tell someone why we're all the way out here and not at school like good little children."

"Sounds good." Hermione agreed and they finished their meal talking lightly about what they should look for while in the library.

Harry asked for some toast to take up to Ron which the Matron provided and then followed Hermione up the stairs to their rooms. He handed Hermione the toast and said he would send Ron over since he himself was wanting to take a shower. Hermione took the toast into her room and Harry went into his.

Ron was still as soundly asleep as he was an hour ago, except this time he wasn't making any gestures or saying anything. Harry smiled as he remembered something from a little over a year ago that he had to pay Ron back for. Walking over to the sleeping friend, Harry took out his wand and waved it once. A loud snapping noise filled the room and Ron sat bolt upright.

"Wuzzgoinon?" Ron asked groggily. Perfect.

Harry rapped Ron sharply over the head and laughed as the other wizard started rubbing where he had struck, cursing vigorously.

"What was that for?" Ron demanded after a moment.

"Just payback for last summer." Harry said simply.

"Oh, alright then." Ron said before slumping back into the pillows and then dragging himself from there out of the bed.

"Hermione has some toast for you, since I didn't want to wake you up earlier when we were going for breakfast." Harry said, watching his friend look around for some clothes.

Ron looked over at him. "Why not?"

"Oh you seemed awfully busy, so I thought it best not to disturb you." Harry replied, not even bothering to conceal his laughter at all the implications he had just made.

"Well, erm, thanks, mate." Ron said after turning a brilliant shade of red.

"No problem, mate."

**-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

Harry relaxed against the chair in his bathrobe while opening the book he had taken out of his trunk. It was one of the books they had decided to take from Grimmauld Place. There were all sorts of interesting jinxes and spells inside as well as a good amount of curses and the like as well. There were no illustrations for the spells but there were very well detailed descriptions. Harry winced as he read about a rather nasty sounding boils spell, and decided that he probably wouldn't ever find a need to use it.

Setting the book aside, Harry closed his eyes and began to think about all that had happened to him in the past years since he had learned he was a wizard. It startled him sometimes at how much he, as well as his friends, had been trough. He had lost so much to the hands of what once was a man but he had also gained much, much more. Looking out of the window, he saw that the rain had stopped but the sky was still very overcast. He glanced at the door thinking that maybe he should tell his friends that they should go ahead and go to library to try and find something useful, but then decided against it. He wanted to do something else even more, something he just realized he wanted to do.

He put on some different, warmer clothes and scribbled down a note to Ron before quietly stepping out into the hallway. He could hear murmurs coming from Hermione's room so he knew it was alright to go downstairs.

He stepped out of the Inn and looked around at the town. The graveyard was to the left, while the more populated part of the Hollow was to the right. Taking off toward the right, Harry looked over his shoulder and was able to make out the Gryffindor Mausoleum in the distance. Pulling his coat closer to his body, he set off toward his destination.

There had always been a certain number of strange occurrences in any town, but most were few and far between. In fact, nothing strange had happened in Godric's Hollow for many, many years. Sixteen years, to be precise. Harry noticed that he was spared more than a casual glace every now and then by the older townspeople, but none of them appeared hostile or suspicious of the young man who was making his way to the former Potter residence.

The only thing that really gave away that three people had lived there was the wooden sign bearing the legend Potter. There was no rubble, no new house, just an empty lot that looked well tended. Flowers of all sorts were blooming, even with the rainy weather that was starting to come in foreboding a late winter. Harry smiled sadly as he noticed that the most prominent batch of flowers were Lilies. They must have been planted in tribute to his mother.

He looked around at the houses near the site. They all looked well kept and were obviously still inhabited. Harry walked over to the house right next to where the Potters lived and knocked on the door. He heard the click of a lock and the door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was quite pretty and her smile seemed friendly.

"Hello, how may I help you?" She asked kindly.

"I am sorry for the intrusion, Mrs. -"

"McDowell." The woman supplied.

"McDowell. My name is Daniel Granger. I am visiting Godric's Hollow with some friends. We're from London and have been looking over an unsolved murder case that had taken place in the area about sixteen years ago. It's an assignment that was given to us by the university we attend to see if young eyes can see what others might have missed. Is it any trouble if I could talk to you for a while?"

Harry was rather proud of himself for being able to lie so well on the spot. He just hoped that Hermione wouldn't be too mad that he stole her last name for this occasion.

The woman looked a bit hesitant, but then stepped aside to let him in. Harry went inside and waited for the woman to tell him where he could sit.

"Please, have a seat on the couch. Would you like something to drink?" She asked after locking the door and stepping away from it.

"No, thank you. I've just had breakfast." Harry said with a thankful smile.

"Very well." She said and then sat down opposite him in a chair. "So how can I be of help to you, Mr. Granger?"

"Have you lived here long, Mrs. McDowell?" Harry asked.

"Please, call me Gloria, and yes, I've lived here for nearly twenty five years."

"Then perhaps you knew the Potters? I believe they lived right next to you unless I'm mistaken. Call me Daniel, please, by the way."

"Well, Daniel, I didn't know the Potters in the sense that I knew them both very well. I had tea with Lily Potter often, but I don't think that I've ever really seen James Potter. They had a son, too, whose name I can't remember."

"I believe his name is Harry. He is currently living in London." Harry said, still keeping the deception up well.

"Ah, that was it. Yes, Lily and I were pretty good friends, despite the fact that I never was able to meet her husband. She was a very kind and thoughtful person. From what I heard from her about James was that he worked all over the country and was rarely home, and he usually got home very late in the night."

Harry nodded to himself and thought of what to ask her next. He found something. "Was there ever anyone else that was at the Potter house?"

"Oh yes, they got a lot of visitors. Strange people sometimes, but who's to judge? In fact, Lily introduced me to one of James' friends who was almost always over even though he lived far away." She looked away for a moment, blushing. "He was a very handsome man."

"Could I have his name, please?" Harry asked kindly, already knowing the answer.

"His name is Sirius, but I haven't seen him since the Potters were murdered. In fact, I think people believed that he was the one that killed them." She said, her eyes suddenly sparkling with tears.

"I'm sorry Gloria, if you would prefer we stop."

"No, it's alright. I was just thinking what Dorian would think of me if he knew who his father was." She said, sniffing quietly.

Harry sat, dumbstruck for a moment. He didn't quite comprehend what the woman was saying.

"I'm sorry...but...what?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Oh it was some time after we met that Sirius and I started seeing each other. He would ask me to show him around the Hollow. Well, after a while..." She trailed off, tears streaming down her face.

"I didn't know that I was carrying until after the Potters died. And I never even saw him after that." She said quietly.

Harry didn't say anything. He vaguely heard what the woman was saying because all that his mind could process was the one simple fact that no one in the Wizarding or Muggle world knew.

Sirius had a son.

**Well that's that for this chapter, my friends. I hope you enjoyed. I changed the plot around a little to suit myself so ignore that bit in the last chapter that said they would be heading to Raven's Bluff. Again, I'm sorry for the long, long, long wait for this chapter, but life had been far to dramatic lately to write anything more than my name. **

_**Next Chapter: **Harry learns more about Sirius' prodigal son, and then the Trio decides that it's time to head out for the next destination, Raven's Bluff. _


End file.
